- The Postman Always Rings Twice may be the best example of a film noir in which the main characters lose all control over their lives. Destiny is the real star of this film, and Destiny always has the last word. At the film's start, however, Frank Chambers (John Garfield) is truly master of his fate. Hitchhiking around California, Frank lives as a drifter whose only goals in life are "looking for new places, new people, (and) new ideas." He reluctantly takes a job at a roadside diner owned by Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway), but warns him that his itchy feet are liable to strike again at any time. What stops him from leaving is Nick's beautiful young wife, Cora (Lana Turner). Trapped in her misguided marriage to Nick, Cora lacks all of the freedoms that Frank enjoys. It's not that Nick is necessarily a bad guy, it's just that his interests only extend to things like strumming the guitar and triple-checking the finances. In contrast, Cora wants to "make something" of the diner and of herself. But what to do about Nick?
- After an aborted attempt to elope, Frank and Cora desperately search for a way to get Nick out of the picture without losing the diner, too. "I'd like to see him get plastered like that some night and drive off a cliff," Frank mutters. But he's just joking, of course? Of course. Eventually, Cora makes the suggestion a bit more explicit. Should they "pray for something to happen to Nick?" Frank asks. "Something like that," Cora replies. The film is brilliant in the way in which it lets these ideas fester. Cora's approach is to sow the seeds of a thought in Frank's mind before abandoning him to mull over the idea on his own. Before long, they have a plan all worked out. As Frank's narration explains, "the most serious accidents happen right in people's homes, mostly right in their own bathtubs."
- But the most serious accidents aren't always fatal. After their first attempt to kill Nick is thwarted by an electrocuted cat and a humdrum highway patrolman, Frank tries to escape the situation by leaving town. These days, though, his feet only itch to get back to Cora. When Nick threatens to sell the diner and move to Canada, Frank and Cora realize that they have only one more chance at this. "I guess it's in the cards," Frank admits. Their second murder attempt, a staged drunk driving accident, is more successful than the first, but it leaves Frank hospitalized with the District Attorney (Leon Ames) as a witness. Now they're facing murder charges, and their only hope at getting free is a sleazy lawyer named Keats (Hume Cronyn). Can Keats "handle it" and keep the unhappy couple from tearing each other apart, or has fate already decided this case?
- Personally, I've always found the film's famous conclusion to be more of a thematic necessity than a plausible resolution, but it is undeniably one of the quintessential noir endings. Indeed, Frank and Cora do achieve a strange sort of peace after finally appeasing the courts, a blackmailer, and, perhaps most importantly, one another. But this is film noir, and their happiness and freedom are short-lived at best. As the result of a completely unforeseeable accident, Cora's lipstick case rolls across the ground once again, this time symbolizing the end of the affair. It's the rancid icing on a stale cake and the end of Frank and Cora in more ways than one.
- Memorable endings aside, The Postman Always Rings Twice has a lot going for it. Lana Turner's performance is wonderfully hot-and-cold, and John Garfield is great in transforming from a man who "could sell anything to anybody" to one who only buys what Cora is selling. The film's writing, adapted from the novel by James M. Cain, is also masterful, particularly when Keats and the D. A. grind Frank and Cora through the gears of the legal machine, and the direction by Tay Garnett is appropriately suspenseful. My favorite aspect of the film, however, may be the characterization of Nick. He's obviously wrong for Cora, but he's so naive and affable that you can't help but feel sorry for the guy. His role in helping to bring Frank and Cora together may be the most tragic part of the entire film.
- Between the lettering style and the name, I feel certain that the Twin Oaks inspired David Lynch.
